The Chronicles of the Pride Lands
by IllogicalInsanity
Summary: Zira is dead and peace has finally come to the Pride Lands. Kiara and Kovu are very much so enjoying their newfound ability to be together openly, but is the peace going to last? This story is going to be based off of their children and the troubles they will have to face.
1. 9 Months Later

**Author's note: This my friends is an experiment for me. In the past I have tried writing and haven't succeeded at all. I very much enjoy it, but I often lack the patience for intensive editing and lack the time to write often. If this goes somewhere great if it doesn't then I am fine with that as well. By the time you read this I will have a second chapter ready to post and I plan to post on a weekly basis. **

**Now I have a slight weakness here. I never saw TLK: 2. I read the wiki and plenty of fanfiction regarding it. There might be a few slight differences, but they are mostly irreverent. The plot will quickly move on from that.**

**My inspiration comes from one writer in particular that I feel should receive recognition for simply superb stories. I have read them and re-read them many times. Without further ado I bid you to go read Kiara32's stories. I would be lying if I didn't say that much inspiration wasn't taken from her fics. Now I must clarify, my plotline is completely different then hers, and to my knowledge no characters share names. **

**Finally, I do not own TLK, that is Disney's. I do however own my plot and my OC's.**

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><p>It had been nine month's since Zira's death, and it had been a busy 9 months for the now united pride. Kiara and Kovu had gotten much closer, and Simba seemed to be accepting the adolescent into the family. Then one day much to everyone's surprise (or lack thereof in some cases) they announced that Kiara was with cub. Naturally there was much rejoicing from the pride. Everyone seemed so happy.<p>

Shortly after that announcement Simba and Nala announced their intentions to surrender the throne to Kovu and Kiara once their cub was born. Vitani had also announced that she was leaving the pride to seek her own destiny a few days later, and although she was missed by some in the pride, they quickly moved on. A new prince held their attention much longer than an outsider lioness leaving, even if she was Kovu's sister.

As Kiara's due date grew closer and closer, she was unwillingly forced to stop running, playing, and hunting, and start sleeping and loafing around more and more. On the bright side she wasn't the only pregnant lioness so she had people to keep her company. There were five other lionesses in the pride that were pregnant around the same time she was: Matka, Samau, Tami, Jima, and Jayda.

There was one lioness in particular Kiara grew very close to, a reddish brown outsider named Matka. Matka was decently similar to Kiara but she had a heavy dose of sarcasm that got her in trouble more often than not. Due to these similarities the two quickly became fast friends. It was not uncommon for them to spend the whole day talking on various subjects from what their cubs would be like, to when the hunting party was going to return with dinner.

These conversations often had a common theme of names or likesuch. One day in particular a specific conversation they had altered the Pridelands history, for better or worse, in a drastic way that nobody, not even Rafiki, could have forseen.

"Kiara, have you thought of any names yet?" Matka asked, as she shifted ever so slightly to relieve the pressure from her cub. This was the fourth time that day she had posed the fatal question to Kiara

"Not yet Matty. Can't you give me five minutes to think?" the Princess replied in a slightly irritated tone. Matka had been asking her that constantly for several days now. The worst part was Matka wasn't the only one. Everybody in the pride wanted to know what the new princes name was going to be.

"Matty? Really Kiara?" She asked feigning indignation at her new nickname, before continuing with, "You will have to make a decision eventually."

"You are starting to sound like my mother," she said, but deep down inside she knew Matka was right. She would have to make a decision eventually, and time was running out. She had already rejected the ideas of several people including Kovu.

"Your mother is right you know. You will have to choose a name sooner or later. It won't be long until he or she is born," the darker lioness said, watching Kiara intently to see if her words had any affect, and they did. The blonde lioness shifted uncomfortably as she thought about those words.

"I know, but can we please move on from the subject for now," Kiara said dodging the question with a sigh as she layed her head down on her paws.

"Fine, but a name is only the first decision that you have to make. Then you and Kovu have to decide who he or she is going to be betrothed to," Matka said, absolutely not dropping the subject.

"I already have an answer to that second question," Kiara said confidently, and she had given quite a bit of thought to her answer, "I want my cub to be betrothed to yours."

That one sentence changed the pridelands forever. Neither of them knew it but that set off a chain reaction of events that nobody ever imagined would occur. The news of the future of the lands spread like wildfire. First the lions knew that the decision of the prince's betrothal had been made, then it made its way to the gophers and the birds. Eventually even the pack animals were talking about it. Unfortunately for the royal family, not all ears listening to the news were friendly.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: How was my mysterious, slightly creepy ending? Should I continue to use endings like that throught the story? Also, I do know it is a bit short, but it is the intro. The next chapters will be much longer, I promise. Any ways it is fun to be back writing. Please leave me a review. Anything goes, because personally I love reading flames. Also I need names. If you can send me a few ideas for names I would be very grateful. If you leave an entire OC I might even use it. <strong>


	2. The New Princess

**Author's Note: Well now that we are done with the intro, things are really gonna get going. I appreciate all the people who reviewed, favorite, and/or followed. So far I have really enjoyed writing, so we can keep our fingers crossed it stays that way.**

**Personally I think this chapter is weak at best, and I apologize for it. I am brain dead at the time of editing and I have had a long run of bad luck so far this week. On that cheery note I am announcing that I may possibly be looking for a beta. It is not definite. If you are interested send an edited excerpt. I promise the next chapter will be much better considering that the main characters will finally be introduced.**

**ThatTexasKid: Your OCs fit into the plot I have surprisingly well. Much thanks my friend.**

**Also I have no experience with births. I am not a girl as you obviously know and I am not a father. Therefore this scene will be likely inaccurate. Enjoy.**

**Anyhow, I do not own TLK. That is owned by Disney. I do however own this plot and my OC's Matka, Samau, Tami, Jima, Jayda, Towanbe, Mira, Shida, Hayde, and Badear.**

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><p>"Come on Matka, you can do it," Kiara said, as she held her friends paw. Matka had been in labor for a few hours now, and her cub was about to be born. Although Sarabi had informed her that it was perfectly normal for the delivery to take this long, it didn't stop Kiara from being worried about her friend.<p>

"He is almost out," Sarabi finally said as she sat nearby. The rest of the pride was waiting outside for news on the cub's birth.

"I can't do it anymore," Matka said panting heavily. She was covered in sweat and constantly trembling in exhaustion. This was the first time Kiara had watched this happen and she wasn't looking forward to seeing it several more times.

"Yes you can, you are almost there. One more big push," Kiara encouraged trying to hide her own nervousness. Her own due date was quickly approaching, and after seeing Matka she was worried about how hard her cub's birth would be.

Matka ground her teeth and with a sound half grunt, half yelp she gave one last push. There was a silence in the cave for a few seconds and then a cry from the newborn cub. After she heard that Matty literally collapsed backwards from exhaustion.

Kiara and Matka breathed a collective sigh of relief as Sarabi washed the newborn cub. "Can I see him?" Matka asked after she had had a few minutes to recover.

Sarabi wordlessly handed over the cub. He was a light brown with a few golden hairs on the back of his neck. His eyes were a calm dark blue and his calm face seemed to match them.

"He is beautiful Matty," Kiara said nuzzling her friend. He didn't seem to be all that energetic as his mother held him for the first time.

"Yes he is. He looks a lot like his father to," she said cradling the newborn and smiling at him. He gave a soft yawn and closed his eyes.

"What are you going to name him?" the young princess asked, very much enjoying her ability to shoot back the hated question.

"Towanbe, after his father," she said rocking the cub slightly as he fell asleep.

"That's a great name," Kiara said jealous of her ability to just come up with a name out of nowhere. She still had no idea what she was going to call her cub when he was born.

"I wish he could have known his father," She said with a slight tear in her eye. It was no secret that her former mate had been killed, but she had never revealed the cause of his death and nobody could bring themselves to ask her.

"I know you do, but at least he will have plenty of playmates," Kiara said referring to the other pregnant lionesses soon to be children. There were five in total, including Kiara's.

"That is always something to be thankful for I guess," the lioness said curling up around Towanbe and laying her head down to go to sleep.

Over the next few weeks several other lionesses gave birth. First Jayda, who gave birth to a midnight black cub named Shida. She was closely followed by Tami who had a brown cub named Hayde. Next was Jima who had a blonde cub named Badear. So in short order the only pregnant lionesses left in the pride were Kiara and Samau.

Meanwhile Towanbe began to grow up. It was quickly clear that he wasn't going to be a fighter. It wasn't due to a lack of potential. He had plenty of muscle. It was more so due to a general unwillingness to fight. This trait first showed itself when Badear tried to wrestle with him one day and Towanbe just looked at him like he was crazy and proceeded to walk away.

Of course his mother was concerned about this trend, because if he was to become king at one point of another he would inevitably be forced to fight for something. She consoled herself by thinking, 'Perhaps he will only fight when he has to.'

As for Kovu, he spent most of his time listening to Simba teaching him what to do when he became king in the next few weeks. Sometimes it was hard to even associate him with the assassin he once was. He had come a long way from being trapped under Zira's paw to the soon to be king of the Pride Lands.

"Kovu, come quick! It's happening," Matka yelled running up to the young prince. She had arrived while he was walking to borders with Simba.

After briefly glancing at Simba for permission, which was granted with a quick nod, he took off in a dead sprint towards Pride Rock. The adrenaline kept him going for far longer than he would normally be able to run. 'I am going to be a father,' he kept thinking the entire way there.

Unfortunately for him, the moment he arrived he was promptly escorted out of the cave by Sarabi and told that he was not permitted to come inside while Kiara gave birth. Instead he was forced to settle for endlessly pacing outside the door, flinching each time he heard her scream.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity to the young prince, he heard a cub's cry from inside the cave.

"It's a girl," Sarabi said smiling at the panting Kiara. She then walked to the entrance of the cave and told the eager young prince, "You can come in now Kovu."

Kovu wasted no time sprinting into the cave to see his new daughter. "What are we going to name her?" He asked Kiara as he nuzzled his daughter. She had blonde fur and emerald green eyes that matched her fathers.

"How about Mira?" Kiara asked, and then proceeded to explain, "It was the only name I could find that I liked."

"I think it's a beautiful name," Kovu exclaimed, happy that he didn't have to hassle her until they came up with an acceptable name.

"Good," she said curling up around Mira who was sound asleep.

Kovu smiled and laid down next to her smiling. "We are parents. I never thought this day would come. Honestly I never thought we would ever be able to be together like this."

"Me neither, I didn't think my dad would like you nearly as much as he has. I thought even after what happened with Zira he would still run you off," she said nuzzling him before her gaze returned to Mira. "I wonder what she will be like."

"Probably a great huntress like her gorgeous mother," Kovu chuckled looking adoringly as his daughter as well. His entire life he had wondered why parents were so attached to their children and he had just found his answer.

"Hopefully not boneheaded like her father," Kiara joked.

"Hey! I am not boneheaded," Kovu responded feigning insult, "I find myself to be quite intelligent."

"Exactly," Kiara laughed and a few seconds later Kovu joined her.

"Am I too late?" Matka exclaimed, running into the cave excitedly. She had been on the hunting party when Kiara went into labor and had just returned to pride rock.

"Matty, meet my daughter, Mira," Kiara said revealing the blonde cub to her friend.

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><p><strong>Well I believe that we should be done with the constant timeskips and random POV changes for the time being. There should only one to two chapters of Kiara or Kovu's POV, then it should all be Mira's for the rest of the story. Anyways thanks for reading drop a review telling me how bad the births sucked if you want. All reviews are fair and I will answer all of them next chapter.<strong>


	3. Meet the Cubs

**Author's Note: Finally we are out of that prologue. I would like to thank all my supporters and particularly those who review.**

**The section of time that they are cubs is probably only going to be 3-5 chapters long. Now this area will probably be more focused on Towanbe, but what happens with Mira is also important.**

**Finally I am going to be changing my update schedule. I will release a chapter when the next chapter is finished. Therefore a week will be the maximum amount of time I will make you wait.**

**Reviews:**

**ThatTexasKid: I very much appreciate your continued support. Like any good writer I often notice every little flaw in my work the minute it is out there.**

**I, unfortunately, do not own the Lion King. I would love to, but I don't. I do however own my OCs which I will not list due to sheer number but you can figure out which ones they are. Finally I do own this plot. I didn't steal it from anyone. It is completely original.**

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><p>"Come on Towanbe, you have to do more than just sit around all day. Come play with us," Mira said, to the young cub who was loafing around in the shade like usual. Almost every day the other cubs tried to get him to play with them, but he never would.<p>

It had been about one month since they were born. Simba had handed Kovu the throne, Mira had been presented to everyone, and everything seemed to be going well for once.

"Nah, why would you want to run around all day? It just gets your fur dirty," the dark cub said barely opening one eye. This was the standard answer that he gave.

"Ah whatever, you go ahead and be boring. We are gonna have fun," Shida said jogging off. The rest of the cubs were quick to follow her leaving Towanbe all alone as usual. Not that he minded of course. He preferred to be able to lay back and think about in peace.

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><p>"So what are we gonna play?" Hayde asked Shida when they got near the water hole. Of course everyone knew the answer to the question. It was merely a formality to even ask at this point.<p>

She pretended to think for a few seconds and then said, "How about tag?"

"I like it," Badear piped up, and backing away from the group a bit.

"It sounds decently fun," Mira said. Somehow they never grew bored of playing the same game over and ober again every day.

"Let's do it then," Hayde replied. "Mira's it!" He exclaimed as he ran away, laughing the whole time.

"Wait what?" Mira asked surprised as all the cubs ran away from her, then she growled and said, "Oh Hayde you are going to get it."

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><p>"Why do they all enjoy running around so much?" Towanbe thought from his usual spot under one of the only trees in the Pride Lands.<p>

"There is literally no reason. All you end up doing is messing up your fur and getting exhausted," he continued, as he sulked in the shade hopelessly bored.

"Why aren't you out there with them?" a voice that he knew to be his mother's asked from behind him as she walked up and sitting next to him.

"Because there is no reason to play mom," he replied dragging out the mom part.

"Sure there is. Getting to know your friends better, having fun, and exercise just to name a few," she said with a smile.

"But what they are doing looks stupid," he grumbled, trying to salvage some dignity from an argument he had obviously lost.

"How would you know?" She asked, knowing she had already won like mother's always do, before continuing, "You have never even tried playing. All you do is lay around in the shade all day, while they are out there having a good time."

"Could you please stop trying to force me to do everything?" he moaned, using a tone that was obvious that he understood her message and wanted the conversation to be over.

"I am not, I am just trying to say you should give it a try," Matka said walking off.

"As much as I hate to admit it, she is right. Its not like I have anything better to do, and almost anything would be more fun then laying here all day," Towanbe said as he stood up and trotted after the other cubs.

"Hey, guys Wan's here," Shida yelled when he got close, as she backed away because they all knew what was going to happen next.

"Wan's it then," Mira taunted as she ran in the opposite direction of the male cub.

"What? Okay then," he growled chasing after the nearest cub which happened to be Badear.

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><p>Meanwhile Matty was watching from a good distance away smiling. She knew her son would come around, she just wasn't sure how long it would be until he swallowed his pride and tried to play with the other cubs.<p>

"You finally got him to play?" Kiara asked as she sat down by her friend.

"Yea, he didn't want to, but I just told him he should try it," she replied.

"It's good that he is finally playing a bit. I was worried that he would start getting fat sitting under that tree all day," Kiara said in a joking tone.

"I can't say that I wasn't worried about that very possibility. He is so much like his father. I miss him so much," she said as her eyes teared up.

Kiara didn't say anything, but instead put a paw on her friends shoulders, as the two watched the cubs play.

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><p>"I bet you can't catch me Mira," Towanbe taunted as he ran just out of reach of the blonde cub. He had fit in quite well with the group and was surprisingly good at the game. He had even managaed to catch Shida, the fastest cub, twice.<p>

"I am gonna catch you!" she shouted running faster to catch him. She had been chasing him for a solid five minutes now and they were both getting quite tired.

Unfortunately for Towanbe he tripped over a root on the ground, and as he fell Mira pounced on him. They both went tumbling across the ground and ended up with Mira on top of Towanbe making what could potentially be quite an awkward position in the future.

"Told ya," she said, quickly getting off of him and running off.

He just grinned and took off towards the group of cubs.

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><p>The cubs finally returned to pride rock late that evening. They were all exhausted from playing their games all day.<p>

"So who won?" Samau asked as they approached, of course she probably could have guessed the answer pretty easily.

"Shida again," Hayde moaned.

"She always wins," Badear agreed. They were all getting tired of Shida winning every game.

"Maybe it is because all of you are just getting fat and slow," she smirked, flaunting her victory in their faces as usual.

"Towanbe was a close second though," Hayde continued, and the others, excluding Shida of course, all nodded in agreement.

"Really, wasn't this your first time playing Towanbe?" the Lioness asked. She was just as surprised as the rest of the mothers when she heard that he had joined the other cubs in their games.

"Yea, beginner's luck," the young cub responded, modestly.

"Beginner's luck my tail, he caught me three times," Shida grumbled. She was upset when another cub managed to catch her even one time, but Wan had managed to do it three times in a row.

"You can't complain, you won the game," Mira said, pointing that specific fact out to the midnight black cub.

Shida just stuck her tongue out at Mira and Mira did the same.

"Girls," Badear mumbled under his breath because it would not turn out well for any of the guys if the girls heard them say that. "We will never understand them."

"Agreed," Hayde chuckled as he layed down to go to sleep.

Soon only Towanbe was left awake. Other than his mother, nobody knew that he often times couldn't sleep.

After laying still for several minutes, he wordlessly got up and trotted off.

He ended up walking off to the tree he normally layed under during the day.

There he just sat and thought. He thought about how much fun he had had, and how wrong he had been about playing. It was more than just messing up your fur. Finally he thought about his friends, the other cubs.

After several more minutes of deep thought he turned and headed back to the pride and quickly fell asleep.

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><p><strong>Author's note: And that's all folks. Finally we have a chapter where there is more than just the constant time skips and babbling and some good old plot development. Anyways while this will be a very fluff heavy story, don't be expecting it for awhile. Also, get used to that tree. It will be used constantly as a way for you to see into Wan's head.<strong>

**Okay, quick question, do y'all want me to make a list on my profile of all my OCs and their physical description? Would that make it easier to get a mental picture. Also if any of y'all are talented in drawing I would appreciate if y'all would message me or review.**

**Alright, please review, even if it is just a shameless flame. I love a good flame war. **


	4. Lost

**Author's Note: And I am back with another chapter. Now as usual I would like to thank my supporters, particularly those of you who review. I know that there are quite a few of you who read the story and I would appreciate your reviews.**

**Nala's Fan: I appreciate the compliment.**

**Tex: I will get working on the list then. It will only contain names and appearances however.**

**I do not own any part of the Lion King. I would love to, but alas I don't. I do however own my characters, and the plot line both of which are completely original.**

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><p><p>

"What's the matter Shida? Can't catch me?" Towanbe taunted as he ran several yards in front of her, intentionally staying just a bit out of reach.

As Towanbe played with the other cubs day after day, he got faster and faster, quickly taking over the spot of the fastest cub from Shida, much to her displeasure.

"I am going to kill you Wan," she growled pushing herself faster, and to her credit she started to gain ground.

"Nope, not gonna catch me," he said taking off running, easily out pacing her, and putting a decent amount of distance between the two of them.

Shida just growled and turned to chase after Badear, who had been watching from the side.

"You've gotten really fast Wan," Mira complimented as they watched Shida chase after Badear. Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time until she caught him.

"Thanks, I have really enjoyed playing out here. Much more fun than sitting under a tree," he said, sitting down to take a rest while he could. Shida had made it her goal to catch him every time she could, making him extremely tired by this point.

"I bet it is," she chuckled as Shida caught Badear. He turned and ran at the two of them, which prompted Mira to say, "We should probably start running before he catches us."

"Probably," he replied running away and continuing the game, as Badear turned to chase him rather than Mira.

As Wan turned to run, however, he tripped over a poorly positioned root, allowing Badear to catch him.

He stood with a mischievous smirk and took off towards Mira.

Mira already had a good head start allowing her to keep a decent lead on Towanbe. They were both so caught up in the game that neither of them noticed as they sprinted across the boundaries of the game, and soon past the borders of the lands. They were too busy focusing on the chase.

The other cubs tried to go catch them, but none of them could keep pace with the two of them.

After what seemed like an eternity of running, Wan finally started to gain ground on Mira. Before much longer he was able to reach out and simply tap her on the thigh, making her it.

Both cubs collapsed from exhaustion, looked at each other and then looked around at their surroundings.

"Uh Mira, where are we?" Wan asked, as he looked for anything familiar. They were definitely beyond the borders. In every direction as far as they could see there was only sand. No water, no trees, and most importantly no pride rock.

"I think we went past the borders," She said shivering. Her father had always told her never to go past the borders. There were hyenas and rogue lions out that there that would kill them without a second thought. "Mira, once you pass these borders everything wants to kill you. There is nothing safe out there," he had once told her.

"That's what I thought. Do you know which way home is? He asked, looking around for any sort of landmark. Somehow their own tracks were even covered.

"No. I have no idea. We are lost," She said, starting to panic. What would they do? There was no way they would be able to survive or find their way back home.

"Okay, calm down. We need to find our way back home, and we need to be calm to do it," he said, showing an unnatural maturity as he rested a paw on her shoulder. Somehow that comforting touch managed to calm her down.

"First, we need to think, surely someone told your dad that we are missing, so he will be looking for us. That means that the best thing that we can do is wait here for him to find us. Surely he will find us soon," he said confidently. At that moment he seemed to be much more than a cub that was only a few weeks old.

"But what if he isn't the first thing that finds us?" Mira asked, already knowing the answer, but she didn't want to believe it.

"We will cross that bridge when we get there," he said, silently confirming her fears.

They waited there for a few hours, and the sun set. They hadn't seen anything. Not even a bird.

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><p><p>

Meanwhile, back in the pride lands, the other cubs were having a very different conversation. They were currently debating about whether or not to tell anyone that Towanbe and Mira were missing.

"We have to tell someone," Shida said, yet again. She had been saying that the entire time since they ran off.

"We can't. We are going to get in big trouble if we do. I say we go looking for them," Badear retorted, assuming that the parents were going to be mad at them because of the missing cubs.

"What if they went beyond the boundaries? They could be in serious danger right now," Hayde piped in. They all knew the dangers that were present on the other side of the border.

"I don't think we have a choice guys. We can't hope to catch them on our own. Every second they are out there is another chance that they could die. The only people that can find them are the adults," Shida said walking back to pride rock.

Badear reluctantly nodded and the group started walking back towards the mothers.

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><p>"Hey guys. Where are Towanbe and Mira?" Samau asked when they got close.<p>

"We don't know. We were playing out by the border and they took off and we lost them," Shida said, before continuing, "Last we saw them they were past the boundaries heading towards the border."

"I will go get Kovu and Kiara," Matka said running off to find the royal couple. They would have to lead any search parties for the missing cubs.

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><p><p>

"We need to find shelter. It is getting late," Mira said after a few more hours. The sun had set long ago and temperatures were starting to plummet dangerously low for the two cubs.

"No, if we leave here they may never find us," Wan said, hoping in vain that the search parties would find them soon.

"If we stay here, there may not be much of us to find," she said as she started to shiver. Her speech was slurring as well.

"Fine, but we have to stay close," he reluctantly said, seeing her condition and knowing that if they didn't find shelter soon, not being found would be the least of their worries.

"I think I saw a small cave nearby," she said walking to the top of the hill. "Yea, it's just a bit over that way."

"Let's get to it then," Wan said jogging towards it.

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><p><p>

"Sire, we found their trail but it is too late for us to go after them. We would freeze long before we got to them. We will have to hope they found shelter," one of the lionesses that was tracking the cubs said. They had been searching tirelessly to find the young princess and Towanbe.

"Very well. Everyone back to pride rock. We will resume the search tomorrow," Kovu sighed. They had been searching for hours and when they finally picked up their trail, it was too late. The odds of two cubs surviving overnight were slim to none, but nonetheless he turned and walked back into the pride lands.

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><p><p>

"Wan, its cold in here," Mira said shivering. The cave had helped some, but there was only so much it could do.

"It usually gets cold at night," he said not moving, but you could tell that he was uncomfortable.

"You're not making me feel any warmer," she growled, getting irritated with him constantly shooting out facts instead of taking action.

"Come here then," He said moving a bit closer until they were laying right beside each other.

"Better?" he asked, looking over at her.

"Yes better," she replied, gratefully.

"Hopefully they will find us tomorrow," he said looking towards the mouth of the cave.

"Of course they will. It's my dad looking for us," Mira replied.

"You're right," Wan said laying down to sleep.

"Of course I am," she said laying down next to him, and just before they fell asleep she could have sworn she heard him murmur, "Girls.."

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><p><p>

**Author's Note: And that's a wrap. So now they are lost far away from the pride lands. That's a problem. Anyways read and review and maybe I will feel motivated to post a chapter Saturday. I should have it written by the time you read this. **

**Also the list should be up by Saturday. Maybe earlier if I can force myself to actually do something productive.**


	5. Hunted

**Author's Note: I'm back yet again, here with another chapter that was written when I was half asleep. Anyways enjoy.**

**Now like always, I have news. I have now posted this story under the exact same name on Archive of Our Own. Once I get that site caught up to here, I will update there a few hours ahead of here, sometimes even chapters ahead. All I am saying is you will probably get the chapters earlier there then you will here.**

**Reviews:**

**Mira's Fan - Over the next few chapters you will be seeing alot of those two, actually for the rest of the story you will be seeing alot of them, particuarly Mira however. Also you should just go ahead and make an account.**

**Tex - Always appreciate the compliment.**

**In case you for some bizarre reason didn't read any previous chapters, I do not own TLK. I merely own what my messed up imagination has created.**

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><p>Early the next morning Towanbe woke. Somehow, they had had no problems the entire night.<p>

He stood and slowly made his way to the entrance of the cave. There was still nothing but barren desert for miles around.

"Well this is just great," he groaned, before walking back into the cave and seeing a just awoken Mira.

"Morning," he said walking back over to her. "I looked around and there is still absolutely nothing around here. Not even a bird."

"Morning to you to," she said slowly standing, "You still think that they will find us."

"Absolutely," he said, sitting down before continuing. "It is just a matter of time before they show up."

"I wonder how long it will take for them to find us," Mira said. While neither of them said it, both were concerned about what could find them before Kovu did.

"Knowing your dad, he probably has a group out there right now," Wan said sitting down, trying to get their thoughts off of the impending threat.

* * *

><p>"Quickly, lets get going," an irritable Kovu said. He had barely gotten any sleep, and he seemed to be taking the resulting irritation out on the lionesses.<p>

"Just give us a few more minutes," Samau said, as they went to get the last lioness on the search party. While she understood his irritation, she wasn't happy that he was making her bear the brunt of it.

"We don't have a few more minutes," he said pacing through the cave nervously. Like all of them he was scared of all the dangers that the cubs faced.

"Kovu, calm down. They are both pretty smart. They will be fine," Kiara said nuzzling him, trying yet again to calm her irritated mate down.

"I hope so," he said sighing and sitting down. He was having a hard time accepting the fact that his daughter was in danger and there was absolutely nothing he could do to help her.

"We are ready to go now," Samau said walking back up.

"Let's go find them then," Kovu said walking out of the den, and immedietly breaking into a jog towards the borders.

* * *

><p>"I'm getting really hungry," Mira said. They had not had anything to eat or drink in over 14 hours and were really starting to feel the effects.<p>

"There isn't really anything I can do about that," Wan replied, and not moving. That had been his answer to everything, and it was really starting to irritate Mira.

"How about at least pretending to look for food," she growled, irritably. Normally she wouldn't have done anything, but she was losing control of her emotions, particularly irritation, due to a lack of food and water.

"What's the point? I know there isn't any nearby," he stated.

"Well what if you are wrong? What if in some alternate reality you don't know anything and there is food nearby?" She snapped.

"Fine! You want me to go look for food? Here I go," he said storming off, purposefully over exaggerating his every move to prove that there was no food for them and that he was wasting his time even looking.

Unbeknownst to them, their shouting match attracted much unwanted attention in the form of a hungry Hyena.

* * *

><p>"Here is the trail," Matka finally said. It had taken them a good 30 minutes to find the cubs trail once they had arrived at the border.<p>

"Finally," Kovu murmured, before continuing, "Let's get going. There isn't any time to waste."

* * *

><p>"See Mira? No food. There isn't any food for miles around!" He yelled walking around the cave. He believed he had sufficiently proved his point by now.<p>

"Oh but that is where you are mistaken," a soft voice said behind him, without even seeing him, Towanbe knew that he was not there to help them in any way.

He snapped around to face the voice and saw a full grown Hyena staring at him and Mira. Wan instinctively stepped between Mira and the Hyena, but the Hyena was unfazed as he began to slowly move closer.

"Mira, stay behind me," Wan said slowly backing away from the hyena. He knew that he had no chance of winning this fight. They could only hope for something resembling a miracle.

* * *

><p>"The trail is getting fresher. We are definitely getting closer to them," Kiara said, finally cracking a smile. So far there was no indication that anything had happened to the two small cubs.<p>

"Wait there is another trail as well. It's a hyena!" Samau gasped. It was not uncommon for a hyena to prey upon a small cub, especially out here where there was very little food.

"We need to pick up the pace. There is no time to lose," Kovu said running along the trail. They had to make it to them before it was to late.

* * *

><p>"Two young cubs. Surely you will make a good meal for me," the hyena said cracking a wicked smile. He gave a cackle that made both of the cubs shiver in fear.<p>

"Mira run. I will buy you time," Wan said stepping towards the hyena, intending to cause a distraction that might give Mira a chance of escape.

"What? Wan I can't leave you here," she gasped. There was no way she was going to leave him to his almost certain doom

"Just go! Run!" he yelled, as the hyena began to back them into the cave.

"I'm not leaving!" She yelled back.

"Good, more for me," the hyena said slowly walking towards the cubs.

* * *

><p>"How much further?" Kovu asked anxiously. By now odds were they were to late to save them.<p>

"Not very. They are probably over this hill or the next one," Samau said midstride.

"Good," he said continuing to run.

* * *

><p>By this time the hyena had backed the cubs into the cave, sealing off any chance of escape for them.<p>

"You should have run Mira," Wan said knowing that they were about to die.

"And leave you here alone? No way," she retorted, "Wan you are my friend and I am not going to leave you here alone."

"At least one of us would have lived. Now we are both dead," he said sadly.

"Such a sweet sentiment, but unfortunately yes, you are going to die," the hyena replied, raising his paw to strike.

At almost that exact moment there was a loud roar behind him and then a brown mass hit the hyena with such force, that he was thrown into the wall of the cave.

Kovu didn't even give the poor thing time to try to get up instead going straight for its neck, and simply tearing it out with minimal effort.

"Are you two okay?" He asked after he had dispatched of the foe.

"Yea," Mira said nodding, still shaking a bit from fear.

"Yes sir," Towanbe said, in a much calmer tone.

"Good. Follow me," he said walking out of the cave, where the rest of the pride was waiting.

Both the cubs meekly followed after Kovu.

"They are fine," he said, and the group breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Let's head home," he said walking back towards the pride lands.

* * *

><p>After an hour of walking, they made it back to pride rock.<p>

"Mira, come with me," he said walking away from the group.

She slowly nodded and followed him.

Once they were sufficiently far from the group he sat down and said, "You need to be more careful."

She nodded hoping that her lecture would be over after that.

"Do you know what would happen if you died?" he asked looking down at her.

"Do you know how much that would have hurt your mother and me?" He asked.

"No," she said looking at the ground.

He nodded and said, "Just be more careful. We were genuinely scared for a while there."

She slowly nodded.

"Okay then. Run along," he said.

She nodded again before running back towards the den.

* * *

><p>Late that night Towanbe stood and walked out of the den. He wasn't quite sure what had pushed him to act like he had earlier that day.<p>

Maybe it was just instinct, but he was doubting it. Why did he feel compelled to sacrifice his life for a friend's? Would he have done it for any other friend? He didn't know.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Cut. And that is a wrap. This chapter was actually written in record time. Only 3 hours. Normally it takes me several hours to write one. Anyways the list should be up by now. It is only going to include names and physical descriptions. I am still working on the rest.<strong>

**Anyways, please review even if it is just a blatant flame. I quite enjoy reading them.**

**Also, has anyone managed to notice a major inconsistency in the story before this part. If anyone manages to find it, I will write a seperate oneshot about how that came to be. **


	6. Moving On

**Author's note: So now we have the first inklings of romance, but of course I am going to drag it out for a while. Anyways, now the cubs are going to really start growing up. This is the last chapter in which I plan to have them as cubs. Next chapter they will have graduated to early adolescents. **

**In retrospect, (I usually write the beginning Author's Note before I write the chapter, and the end one before editing) I think I may have moved to fast here. I tend to write off of gut instinct and I don't go back and edit the story of each chapter after I write it. So I apologize if some of you think I may have moved a bit to fast.**

**Finally, due to the tremendous flop of the Archive of Our Own version, I am discontinuing it for the time being. I may resume it in the future, but most likely not.**

**Reviews:**

**Tex: My friend, you have no idea. The trouble is just beginning.**

**Also there is an inconsistency in the story. Props to anyone who finds it**

**Peeps. I do not own the Lion King, merely my OCs and Plot. Got it?**

* * *

><p>"He didn't chew you out to much did he?" Towanbe asked, once Mira walked back over to where he was.<p>

"Not really, he just told me that I needed to be careful," she replied.

"Wow, you got off easy. My mom nearly went ballistic on me," he chuckled.

"I can see her doing that. I nearly went ballistic on you while we were out there more than one time," she laughed. Such memories were much better in hindsight for the two young cubs.

"Yea, you did," he smiled. "I would rather have my mother mad at me ten times then have you coming after me one time."

"Hey, I wasn't that bad!" She exclaimed, pretending to be insulted by his comment.

"Oh no, you were pretty bad," he smirked, not at all playing along with her game.

"Okay, but you were right up there with me," she glared playfully.

"True," was his reply, and with that he instantly killed all the levity of the moment, as usual.

"Well you certainly know how to kill a moment Wan," Mira said a bit annoyed at the other cub.

Wan opend his mouth to respond then he heard, their friends yell, "You're back!"

"What happened?" Shida asked, curiously. Of course they were all wondering what had happened to their two friends.

"We just got lost," Wan said, essentially dodging the question. Fortunately, this answer nearly satisfied the other cubs.

"Your dad was really freaked out Mira," Hayde added on.

"I bet he was," her reply came .

"He made sure to tell her all about it when they got back," Wan said in a teasing tone as he glanced over at his friend.

"Yes, he most definitely did," she said, glaring a bit at Wan.

"Well anyways we are glad you two are back," Shida said, conveniently changing the subject.

"I am glad that we were back. We almost didn't make it back," Wan said, deciding that they might as well tell their friends the entire story as they were going to hear it either way.

"Really? What happened?" Hayde asked, interestedly.

"A Hyena found us just before Mira's dad did," Wan said, simply.

"Did he get you?" he asked breathlessly.

"Of course he didn't dimwit. If he did they wouldn't be here right now," Shida taunted, intentionally making fun of the slightly younger cub.

"Hey!" He yelled back irritated at Shida.

"Shida is right, he didn't get us. He came really close, but didn't quite get to us," Wan answered, pulling the groups attention from Shida and Hayde and back to the relavent conversation.

"Good, it would have gotten bring with only these two here," Badear said pointing at Shida and Hayde.

"Hey!" they both yelled at him, before tackling him.

"Good to things aren't too different," Wan said, chuckling at their friends antics.

"No they aren't," Mira said smiling, before she joined the fray, followed closely by Wan.

* * *

><p>After the play fight was over the cubs decided to head to the waterhole.<p>

"So what all has happened in the two days we were gone?" Wan asked. Although they were only gone for a few days, a lot of things had changed.

"Shida is now starting to accompany the hunting team," Hayde said.

"And of course, they are finding chores for Hayde and I to do while she is out there," Badear groaned. Naturally the two guys very much so disliked this detail that had changed.

"Sounds like fun," Mira giggled. She was quite liking how this was turning out. She got to go learn to hunt, while the boys did all the work.

"You have no idea," he groaned.

"Shida, Hayde, and Badear come here!" one of the adults said, calling Shida to hunt, and Hayde and Badear to begin their misereable chores.

"Not again," the two boys mumbled as they walked off, with Shida smiling as she trotted along beside them.

"Sounds like not much has changed," Wan said, smiling as he watched their three friends walk off.

"No, it doesn't look like that at all," Mira said standing beside him. "So how long before we join in that routine?"

"To soon. Are you looking forward to it?" Towanbe asked, before continuing, "Because I am absolutely not looking forward to it in any way, form, or fashion.

"Probably pretty soon. I will probably ask my mother tonight," she replied, getting a groan from Towanbe.

"Are you looking forward to it?" He asked laying down in the shade. He was going to make sure to enjoy his last moments of freedom before he had to work like his friends.

"Absolutely!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down exciteadly.

"You sure are excited to start hunting," he chuckled seeing her reaction

"I just hope they rope you into chores soon. That would be funny to see," she smirked.

"Oh I hope they don't. I really don't want to be in that group," he said. Of course there was no chance he was going to get out of chores, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.

"I really want you to be in that group," she laughed. "I think it would be funny to see you being forced to work.

"That would be horrible," he sighed.

"I can see it now. You would have an indignant look on your face and everything. It would be awesome," Mira giggled.

"Quiet you," Wan snapped, feigning irritation.

* * *

><p>Over the next few days Mira started following the hunting group on their hunts, and Towanbe was forced to begin the torture regimen of chores, much to his displeasure, and her pleasure.<p>

During this time the cubs began to slowly change from feeble cubs to semi-independent adolescents. Some changes were overly noticeable, like the beginnings of a mane or muscle growth, but some came in the form of mood changes. Which naturally the guys were quick to inflict self-harm with.

It was at the beginning of this age that the all dreaded very long, interrogationish conversations about boys started and the much simpler and shorter ones about girls began.

"Come on Shida, surely we can talk about another subject other than the boys for five minutes," Mira groaned when they were on their way back from a hunt. Shida had nearly scared off their kill with her constant babbling. This was a recently acquired trait for the normally fairly quiet adolescent

"No, we really can't. Now I am going to find out whether or not you want me to," Shida replied, "Which one of the boys do you like? Also, don't tell me that you don't, because we both know that isn't true."

"None of them. Why do you think that I just have to be head over heels for one of them?" she asked.

"I didn't say head over heels. I just said which one do you like?" she asked.

"Well I do not care for one of them over the other. What about you?" Mira retorted, enjoying the look of surprise that crossed Shida's face.

"Who me? Why would you think that I would actually like one of them?" she asked, a little surprised at Mira's sudden change of direction.

"Well why wouldn't you?" Mira retorted, stepping a bit closer to her friend.

"Point taken," she said lowering her head, and therefore ending the conversation.

* * *

><p>"So are either of you two stupid or gay enough to confess your romantic interests?" Hayde asked looking at his two friends.<p>

"Yeah, no. You two would never let me live it down," Wan replied.

"Isn't that what all good friends do?" Badear asked, looking over at his friend who was sitting in the shade, enjoying their down time after they finished their chores.

"Yea, pretty much," Hayde replied, laying down as well.

"Nice chat then," Wan said leaning back. "Isn't it great that we feel no remote need to confess every detail of our lives to each other?"

"Yes, it most definitely is." Hayde said, looking between Badear and Wan.

"I must agree. Now we must debate more import subjects, such as who has the biggest mane," Badear said.

"Here we go again," Wan mumbled. This wasn't exactly a new topic for them. They had been debating this for awhile now.

"Well obviously it isn't you Badear," Hayde started, pointing to the fluff around Badear's neck.

"Why do you say that?" he asked, looking at him.

"Look at yourself, you barely even have a mane, and what you do have is patchy at best," Hayde said, and he was correct, but none of the other cubs were any any better.

"Well at least I have one. You look like one of the lionesses," Badear fired back.

"Do not," Hayde replied, and from their they degenerated into a petty argument until Wan spoke up.

"Well since you have both disqualified the other, that only leaves one option," Wan piped up, pointing to himself.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: And that would be a wrap. Was my slight joke about gender differences appreciated there? Of course I am sure I offended somebody in there, but that is shockingly true. <strong>


	7. Conflicted

**Author's Note: And my good friends I am back with yet another chapter. I feel that I may have moved a bit to quickly last chapter, but what is done is done. **

**Reviews:**

**Don't get me wrong, I love seeing reviews, but I would love to get reviews that are more then one or two words.**

**Tex: Thanks man.**

**zero jr the hedgehog****: Thanks to you as well.**

**Now, in case you haven't read any of the earlier chapters I do not own any part of Disney, not even one share. Got it? Very good. Now onto the chapter.**

"Still can't catch me Mira?" Towanbe taunted, running just out of reach of the blonde cub.

Mira didn't say anything and just wordlessly continued to pant and chase after him, slowly gaining ground.

Wan saw this and he started to speed up, but it was too late, as Mira ran right into him, tackling him onto the ground.

Due to their speed they began rolling on the ground, and eventually stopping with Mira on top, and their faces just inches apart.

For a solid two seconds they were both frozen, and then Mira shook her head and scrambled to get off of her friend. Both of them stood there is shock for a bit until Mira recovered enough to talk.

"Caught you," she said quietly, her face burning red.

"Yea, you did," he responded looking down, unable to meet her gaze.

Neither of them made a move to leave until Shida yelled, "Are you two just going to stand there all day?"

"Of course not!" Wan answered, indignantly as he ran back to the group, with Mira close behind him.

"Mira, you need to focus," Kiara said, as she instructed her daughter on hunting. They had been hunting for awhile now and Mira had scared off the prey two times and failed to act one time.

"I am trying mom," she replied but her mind was obviously somewhere else. Even as she said that she sounded distant.

"Mira, dear. Is something bothering you?" her mother asked looking a bit concerned. It concerned her to see her daughter like this. Distracted to the point where even the most instinctual tasks become impossible.

Mira just nodded not entirely trusting her words at that moment. Truth be told, she couldn't stop thinking about a certain episode with a certain light brown earlier, however she wasn't sure if it was because of the incident itself, or the unrelenting teasing that Shida was constantly bombarding her with.

Kiara nodded not entirely believing her, but she decided that it would be best for her to just drop the subject.

The two lionesses stayed still for several minutes until their prey, a small herd of gazelle, moved close enough for the two lionesses to spring their trap.

The gazelle saw then and immediately began to run. Kiara then split off to the side, trying to catch them between her and Mira

It was a classic case of too little too late, as all but one gazelle escaped the two lionesses, and that one ran towards Mira, risking an adolescent over a full grown lioness.

It was almost as though Mira wasn't herself, as instead of making her usual relatively clean, efficient kill, she not only failed to kill the beast, but missed it all together. To add to that, it wasn't even a close miss. It was almost as though she had lost use of her eyes all together.

"Mira, I know something is wrong. What is it?" Kiara asked. Before she was just a little concerned, but after seeing that Mira couldn't even perform some of the most basic functions she was much more concerned.

"It's nothing mom," Mira lied. Like most kids, she would rather die than confide in her parents.

"Mira," her mother said, her tone softening, "I am just trying to help you."

"I know mom," came her simple, exasperated reply. "You need to trust me when I say that nothing is wrong."

"Okay, then lets head back home," Kiara sighed, walking back towards Pride Rock.

"Hey Wan bro, we are heading out to the water hole, you want to come?" Badear asked, after they were done with chores.

"Sure, sounds like fun to me," Wan said, "At least if we are out there it will be harder for them to give us more chores."

"That's an excellent point," Hayde said, "We need to leave quickly before they come up with a new idea."

"Lets get going then," Badear replied, walking to the exit of the den.

With that the three guys began walking towards their destination.

"So Wan, you and Mira seemed to get a little close during the game earlier," Hayde said once they were out of earshot. He had been waiting to tease Wan about it all day, and he was finally getting his chance.

"So?" Wan asked getting a bit defensive. He had been expecting this conversation. Naturally, any good friends would torment him about what had happened.

"Nothing, just making conversation," Hayde said, as if he had merely made a passing comment.

The group walked in silence for several minutes before Hayde continued his torturous interrogation, "So was it really an accident?"

"No! Wait! I mean yes!" Wan exclaimed, confusing his words.

Hayde burst into laughter and asked, "Final answer?"

"I am never going to live this down am I?" Wan said resigned to the torture his friends were going to subject inevitably going to him to.

"Absolutely not. We wouldn't be good friends if we let you, would we?" Hayde asked. "Would you not do the exact samw thing to either one of us."

"Oh I would absolutely tease either one of you endlessly. Just remember that the teasing can go both ways," Wan replied.

"I have a feeling that all of us will come to know that fact all too well," Hayde groaned. "You are lucky Wan. You get your teasing out of the way early on."

"I am getting concerned about Mira," Kiara told her mate that night. "She has seemed distracted all day, to the point where she couldn't even hunt earlier."

"That is concerning," Kovu replied, deep in thought. "Why would she be that distracted? Could she maybe be sick?"

"I doubt it. There would be other symptoms. I wonder if something happened between her and her friends. Usually she is the first person to be out there, but today it just seemed like she was somewhere else." Kiara said. Mira's sudden change in emotion wasn't entirely uncommon for adolescants her age, but her inability to focus on anything was bizarre.

"Maybe it is just a side effect of her age," Kovu pointed out. "There is no need for us to make a panic when it is probably nothing. She is fine dear."

"I hope so. I am quite concerned for her," Kiara said, looking over to where her daughter was resting.

"Don't worry about it. She is going to be just fine," he said.

"I sure hope so," she replied as she layed down to sleep.

Only a few minutes later Towanbe wandered out of the pride deep in thought. In a similar fashion to Mira, he was nearly oblivious to his surroundings as he walked out to his usual spot.

"Why can't I stop thinking about her?" he asked himself.

"Is it just because of all the teasing Hayde and Badear are giving me, or is there another reason?" he asked. "And if there is another reason, what is it? Why can't I stop thinking about Mira?"

He growled as he sat motionless deep in thought.

'I can't stand sitting here anymore,' He eventually thought as he stood, and walked out towards the border.

At around the same time Matka had woken for a few minutes and after a brief glance around the cave, confirmed that her son was not in there.

"Surely he couldn't have gone far," she said standing and padding after him.

It didn't take the experienced huntress long to track down the troubled adolescent.

"Wan, is something bothering you?" she asked as she approached him.

"No… Wait yes there is," he conceded, as much as he hated to admit it, he did need help.

"What is it?" she asked sitting down beside him, relieved that he was opening up about something that had obviously been troubling him.

"It's about Mira," he said finally.

"What do you mean son?" she asked sitting next to him.

"Earlier when we were playing she tackled me and we ended up in a weird position. Since then she has constantly been in my thoughts," he said slowly.

She just nodded before saying, "So?"

"It just confuses me. Why would she be in my thoughts so much? Until recently she was in there no more than any one of my other friends, but now she is all I can think of," he said.

"Son, this is one thing I think it would be best if you learned for yourself," Matka said.

"So you know why?" he asked looking over at her.

"Yes, but I am not going to tell you," she said. "Don't worry, it is quite normal for lions your age."

He just silently nodded and watched the stars.

After a few minutes Matka turned to leave, then she heard, "Thank you mom."

"Any time son. Any time," she said walking away.

'So maybe it isn't as weird as I thought. Still what does this mean?' he wondered in his head. 'Why did everything have to get so confusing?'

With one last sigh he turned and headed back to the den and returned to sleep.

**Author's note: Well this certainly seemed to be a long chapter. Kinda weird when I struggled to even get 700 words out of it, but whatever. I hope all of you enjoyed, and please leave me a review. I write faster when I get reviews.**

**Also, to clarify something which I am sure some of you are confused by: the guys have very, very limited knowledge on what a crush is. I would describe their conversation in the last chapter on the subject as more of a "We hear other people talking about this, so we are going to pretend we know what it is." Kind of thing. Surely I can't be the only person who did that.**


	8. Vitani's Return

**Author's Note: I am back writing another chapter. Unfortunately I have had a slight case of school inspired writer's block, so I am writing this less than 3 hours before I am going to put it up. I am sure it will be a great chapter.**

**Reviews:**

**Tex: Well this chapter is a break from the normal. It also introduces a key character, not for what she does, but for who she is.**

**Now this is where the plot starts to thicken. So far, besides the bits of awkward preceedings of romance, there really hasn't been much plot. This chapter is going to change that. Enjoy.**

**Peeps I do not own TLK. Really. I hope you know that by now.**

* * *

><p>"Mira, come with me," Kovu said early one morning.<p>

"Yes sir," Mira said as she stood up and followed her father.

"Where are we going?" she asked curiously after they had been walking for a few minutes.

"Out to the border. You will need to know where the boundaries are," he said, smiling down at her. "Grandpa taught me where they are and now I am going to teach you where they are."

"Why?" She asked. "Why would I need to know where the borders are?"

"Because one day you will be queen of the pride, and as queen it is vital that you know where our land ends," he replied. "If you didn't, how would you know if Hyenas had come into our land or not?"

"Okay father," she replied, satisfied with his answer. She continued trotting alongside him.

"We are nearing the border now. It is important Mira," he said, looking down at her so she could know how serious he was being, "that you be on guard for anything."

She nodded looking around to see if she could see anything notable.

"Always be wary. You never know what you will find out here," he continued, still watching her. "Our biggest concern is that another pride could take over our lands."

"Yes father," she replied, "I will be sure to keep a close eye out."

"Good," he said smiling at her as they continued walking.

After a few more minutes, Mira saw a form in the distance.

"Dad. What is that?" She asked looking at it. It seemed to be that of a large gazelle or maybe a small lion.

"I don't know. We need to check it out. This could be a trap," he said, looking around to see if anyone else was nearby

As the two drew closer it was easy to see that it was an unconscious adolescent cub, and there was no sign of any danger.

"This is certainly weird. It almost seems like I should recognize her, but I have no idea who she is," Kovu said looking at the unconscious cub.

"Well, since she is no threat, what do we do now? Do we take her back to the pride?" Mira asked, circling the female adolescent.

"Yes, I suppose we have to," he said picking the adolescent up in his mouth and placing her on his back.

* * *

><p>"Will she be okay?" Mira asked, once they were back at pride rock. They had immedietly taken the young lioness they had found to Sarafina, who had taken over medicine after Rafiki left a few years back.<p>

"Probably. I would feel better if we still had Rafiki here though," Sarafina said. "Other then hunger and dehydration, nothing appears to be wrong with her. She should be just fine."

"I wonder where she is from, and why she is here," Mira continued sitting down. "I would imagine that it is fairly uncommon to find a lion unconscious in the middle of the desert."

"It is rather strange. Surely when she wakes she will give us answers," Sarafina replied, sitting down having done all she could for the cub.

"I almost feel as if I know her. She looks so familiar to me," Kovu spoke up. He had been sitting off to the side watching Sarafina tend to her patient.

"I would have to agree with you there. She does look rather familiar," Sarafina answered, looking at her thoughtfully.

"Well, when she wakes, she is going to have some explaining to do," Kovu said leaving the cave.

"Surely he wouldn't do anything extreme," Sarafina whispered to Mira.

"I doubt it. He just wants to make sure we will be safe," Mira replied, confident that her father wouldn't do anything rash.

"I hope you are right young one," Sarafina replied. "I hope you are right."

* * *

><p>A few hours later the young lioness awoke, and Sarafina was quickly on the scene.<p>

"Where am I?" She slowly asked, blinking as she looked around the cave they were all in.

"The Pride Lands," the elderly lioness responded. "We found you unconscious near our border and brought you back here."

"Really? My mother told me about this place," she said. "She said you used to live here a long time ago."

"Really?" She said with a smile. "If you don't mind me asking, who is your mother?"

She started to open her mouth to speak and then her eyes teared up.

"Its ok, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to," she said, trying to comfort the obviously distraught adolescant.

"I'm sorry. It's just that…" she said starting to openly cry.

Sarafina sat down next to her and put a paw on her shoulder. "It's ok. You are safe now. Nothing is going to hurt you."

She nodded as her tears began to stop.

"What's your name? Mine is Sarafina," she said.

"My name is Talia," she finally said, after she wiped a tear out of her eye.

"Can you tell me what happened now?" the Lioness asked, watching Talia carefully.

"Yes, I would be most interested to hear your story," Kovu said stepping in.

"It all started one day when my mother and I were out hunting," she said, sniffling occasionally.

* * *

><p>"Come on Talia, the prey is getting away," her mother said, giving her daughter a disapproving glare.<p>

"Yes mom," Talia said running faster, detwermined not to let her mother down.

The pair continued to run, slowly closing the distance on the terrorized Gazelle.

"Talia swing left," the older lioness yelled, moving to the prey's right side.

Talia just nodded and moved to the animals left flank.

Once she was in position her mother ran alongside the gazelle, causing it to make a sharp left turn straight into Talia.

Talia quickly ended its life with a bite to the neck.

"Good job Talia," she congratulated, giving her a rare smile.

"Thanks mom," she beamed at the compliment. It wasn't common to receive praise from either one of her parents.

"Now lets get this thing back home," she said, grabbing it in her mouth and beginning to drag it.

"Ok," Talia said grabbing another leg and helping her mother.

"You got it?" she asked.

"Yea no problem," Talia replied, inwardly groaning at the thought of having to drag it all the way back on her own, but she knew better than to say so.

"Ok, I am going to go patrol the border before I head home," she said walking off abruptly.

Talia just nodded and walked back to the den.

Several hours later, the rest of the small family was starting to get concerned.

"Talia, go see if something happened to your mother," her father said. It was uncommon for her to take as long as she had on patrol.

"Yes, sir," she replied as she headed towards where she had left her mother.

It didn't take long for the young lioness to pick up on her trail.

"This just doesn't feel right," she said to herself as the trail began to grow stronger. She was in a small canyon, nearing a rather sharp bend.

As soon as she turned the corner, she gasped as her saw a gruesome sight. Her mother laying dead in the middle of the canyon, a stake driven straight through her heart.

She started to walk towards her, but stopped as she heard someone behind her.

There was a massive dark brown lion with a black mand laughing evilly as he watched her reaction to her mother's death.

"Run," he said to her. "Run fast and far from this place if you ever want to have a chance of living."

* * *

><p>"And run I did," she said with tears in her eyes. "I came back a few days later, and my father and brother had been killed in the same manner that my mother had. Since then I started wandering, and ended up here."<p>

"I am sorry for your loss," Kovu said, staring at the ground as he didn't know what to say.

"My mother and I were never very close, but I still loved her and my father and brother," she said with a tear in her eye.

"What was her name?" Kovu asked, curiously.

"Vitani," she said, looking up again.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: So there is a bombshell. Vitani makes her reappereance, even if it was a very short and gruesome one. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. The story is going to really start picking up pace now, but don't worry. We aren't even half way to the end of the first Act, given that it is the longest.<strong>


	9. One Part Lost, Two Parts Found

**Author's Note: So I am really rushed for this chapter. I will be lucky to even get it out by Wednesday, so enjoy reading this Thursday or Friday.**

**One last thing, I have an announcement that you will likely want to read at the end of this chapter. It is reguarding the future of the story. I do not foresee it being more then 30 chapters. (Originally I was thinking 50-60 chapters.)**

**Reviews:**

**Tex: I never really did like Vitani, but weirdly enough she is a main character in another story I am considering doing eventually.**

**Ok so for the legal reason of caution I am going to say this again. I don't own any part of the lion king. Guys, I am a dirt poor college student. Let's not delude ourselves here.**

* * *

><p>Kovu's jaw literally dropped when he heard her say that name.<p>

"Are.. Are you sure that was her name," he asked, stunned and shocked.

"Yes. Why?" She quietly said. "Did you know her?"

"She was my sister," he replied, sitting down and looking into the distance.

* * *

><p>Over the next few days, Talia was practically adopted into Kovu's family. Naturally Mira and she became particularly close. Actually that is an understatement. They quickly became inseparable.<p>

As for her mental state, it improved as well. She still wasn't fully recovered from the death of her family, but she was able to put it out of her mind for most of the time. She still had her moments, but they were few and far between.

During the time that she was moving into the pride, all of the cubs reached roughly one year of age, and therefore maturity.

In other news, Mira and Towanbe continued to grow ever closer to each other, to the point where one day they would spend an entire day together, and the next they would be to embarrassed to show their face.

* * *

><p>"Come on Wan," Mira said as they were walking up to the top of pride rock.<p>

"What's the rush?" he asked casually strolling along.

"Why so slow?" the lioness asked. She was oddly impatient, even for her.

"Fair point," his reply came, but he made no move to speed up.

"Now, lets hurry it up. We don't have all day," Mira said, trying to keep herself from getting to frustrated with her stubborn friend.

"Sure we do. Why wouldn't we?" Wan replied, "I know that I was given the day off. Weren't you given it off as well?"

"Just because we have a day off, doesn't mean we have to waste it." Mira said as they reached the top. "Finally."

"Happy now?" Wan asked, quite enjoying her attitude.

"Very much so," Mira said sitting down.

"Now, why did you take me up here?" Wan asked sitting across from her.

"Because I was bored and had nothing better to do." Her reply came. "Other then that I really had no reason."

"Really? That was your reason?" Wan asked irritated. "You just wasted some of my time."

"So you would call us hanging out together a waste of time?" Mira asked, taking advantage of their close friendship.

"Of course not. Where would you get that idea?" he asked, smiling a bit.

"You just said I was wasting your time," she replied, as her smirk grew a bit wider.

"Come on Mira, I am happy to be up here," he said smiling. "Why wouldn't I be happy?"

"Are you really now?" she asked, feigning insult from his words.

"Of course I am." He said nuzzling her shoulder.

"Good," she said with a smirk.

He just laughed and said, "You really are horrible sometimes, you know that."

"Of course. I wouldn't be me if I wasn't like this," she giggled. "I would just be some other boring lioness."

"No, I guess you wouldn't," he sighed, as he sat down and looked out at the horizon.

"What's with the long face. You should be enjoying yourself right now," she said, nuzzling him again trying to get him to play, or at least cheer up.

"And why should I?" he asked, standing and turning to face her.

"Do I really have to go there?" she asked, "Or do you know by now why you should be?"

"I guess not," he smiled. "It is pretty obvious."

* * *

><p>"You are really good at hunting Talia," Kiara congratulated. "I have never seen someone as young as you so good."<p>

"My mother taught me everything she knew," Talia replied, smiling as she thought about those times.

"Well, she certainly knew what she was doing," Kiara said, "and she certainly taught you very well."

"Thanks. Do you know where Mira is?" she asked. "She isn't where we usually meet."

"I think I saw her heading up to the top of Pride Rock," Kiara replied, as she sat down next to Kovu.

"Thanks," she said running off towards the top of pride rock.

* * *

><p>"The sun is really pretty this morning," Mira said as the two sat on top of pride rock.<p>

"Yes, it most definitely is," Wan replied. Both of the adolescents were waiting for the other to say something, but neither could bring themselves to say it.

"Thanks for taking me up here. I am enjoying it more then I thought I would," he said, looking away from her, his face a bit red

"Anytime. I am having fun as well," she giggled. She was just as embarrassed as he was, but it manifested itself in a different manner.

"Well then, I do believe we are both happy," he said glancing over at her.

"Yes…" she started as she gazed back into his light blue eyes.

The scene was almost perfect as the two began to lean towards each other.

"Guys! Are you up here?" Talia called from around a corner.

"Sorry, Wan I have got to go," Mira said. "Yea, I am right up here.

Wan sat still for several minutes in stunned silence.

"Dammit, something was going to happen," he muttered under his breath angrily.

"I might as well head down to meet the others now," he sighed. "And we were so close to."

* * *

><p>"Where have you been Wan?" Hayde asked when he got to the den. "We have been looking for you all morning."<p>

"Nowhere in particular," he replied quickly. Hayde would undoubtably tease him if he knew where he had been.

"Really? I heard a story that you and a certain lioness were on top of pride rock… Alone," he taunted, "Now there are a few ways to interpret that."

"Shut up," he said glaring. "Why we were up there is none of your business."

"I know, but I am going to ask anyways," he asked.

"Shut up loser," he replied, starting to get really irritated at the smaller cub.

"So where were we?" Hayde asked, gleefully.

"About to the point where you were going to shut up and leave me alone," Wan snapped.

"Temper, temper, my foul mooded friend," Hayde replied, still quite enjoying himself.

Wan just glared at him in return.

"Okay, fine. I will drop it," Hayde said, dropping the grin.

"Sure.." Wan said unconvinced.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Shida asked walking over.

"Nothing much," Wan was quick to say.

"What he doesn't want to tell you is that he spent most of the morning on top of pride rock with Mira," Hayde piped up, his gleeful smirk returning.

"Oh, that's cool. How was it?" Shida asked, genuinely not curious. She wan't trying to make fun of him at all.

"Actually not that bad. I quite enjoyed it," Wan replied, "At least until this pest started annoying me."

"Really now?" She asked. "Well he is really a pest, but I want to hear more about your morning."

"I am never going to hear the end of this am I?" he replied.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Kind of an abrupt ending, but I was racing to get this done. Anyways back to the announcement I said I had to make.<strong>

**As I said in the top note, the story has turned out to be less chapters then I had anticipated, so unless you are all for me dragging the story out, I will likely remove the separate parts and make it one giant mess. **

**One last thing, has nobody really noticed the inconsistency I noted a few chapters ago? I will give a hint, look in between chapter 1 and chapter 2. If nobody finds it in two chapters I am going to post the story for it anyways.**


	10. Announcement

**Author's Note: I apologize to all my readers, but I will be slowing down my updates temporarily. It will likely be another two weeks before there is a new chapter. After that chapter I will be posting bi-weekly until everything calms down a bit. My life got very busy, very fast. I am not by any means abandoning the story, merely slowing updates. **

**I will also be using this time to expand certain areas of the story, and plot. This won't quite be a rewrite, but it will be major editing. It may be just enough that you will want to go back and re-read the earlier chapters when the next chapter is posted. **

**Once again, I apologize for getting your hopes up and this chapter will be removed when there is a new one. Anywho read and review. I will write far faster if I start getting more reviews, even if they are bad. Finally, I am still needing OCs if you want to send them in.**


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